A Fisherman's Tale
by uzumakisunspydr
Summary: The battle on the bridge leaving him with little desire for a small town life, Inari sets out to find his purpose. When he rescues a child, it opens up a whole new world. Sequel to Together and This Woman's Work. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**So, I'm back. You encourage me and this is what happens. I keep writing. A continuation of my little 'verse that starts with "Acceptance" followed by "Together", then the one-shot "This Woman's Work". I recommend you read those first, in that order so things make sense. Or, hopefully makes sense. If it doesn't, blame the great page-break massacre of 2010. I'm still trying to find one that works! :D Anywhoo, read, enjoy, and let me know how I'm doing! Cheers!**

**Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei and not me**

**...**

Inari considered his rather unique situation as he walked slowly out of his village. He had a full pack on his back, a wallet full of spending money, and nowhere in particular he had to be. He didn't have to be down at the docks at the crack of dawn the next morning. Or the morning after that. But even with these factors, he had very mixed feelings.

On one hand, it wasn't every day that you were given the freedom to travel wherever you wanted, and given the means to do so.

But, it also wasn't everyday that your mother informs you that it's high time you figured out what you wanted to be when you grew up and kicks you out of your home on your nineteenth birthday.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

So here he was, standing at the edge of his village and staring at the very thing he blamed for most of his troubles on. His grandfather's bridge.

Oh, it wasn't like he blamed the bridge itself. The bridge was still a symbol of hope for his now prosperous village. It was also the cause of his good fortune, for his grandfather had been one of the most sought after architects on this side of the continent after word had spread about it and the part it played in ridding the world of Gato. Inari had been all set to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. He had learned carpentry and was starting to learn the basics of architecture when the bottom of that world had fallen out from under him. His grandfather had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away from heart failure.

After that, he just couldn't get up any enthusiasm for the work. It didn't have the satisfaction it had had before with his grandfather beside him.

He took his time in finding another profession. Due to his success, his grandfather had saved away a very tidy sum that he and his mother could live comfortably on for quite awhile. Soon though Inari had felt wrong about freeloading on his grandfather's hard work, so he had set out to once again work for his keep. So he became a fisherman like his step-father.

He tried. He really did. Unfortunately, he just couldn't get his heart into the work. He was good at it, and it kept money in his pocket, but he just wasn't happy. He had tried to keep this fact from his mother for as long as possible, but Tsunami was as impossible to fool as always, and had cornered him just the day before. He had been standing at the end of the dock, watching the light of the sun dance on the waves. She had come up beside him in her silent way and they stood together in silence for awhile.

Finally, she spoke. "Inari, you don't want to be a carpenter, you don't want to be a fisherman, what do you want to be?"

He'd honestly had no answer to that. For one thing, he didn't really know what options he had. He lived in a small village. By his age he should have settled down in a profession that he would do for the rest of his life, should be married to a nice local girl, and started raising enough children to take over the business in his old age. That's the way it went, didn't it?

"I don't know. I just don't think I want to do this for the rest of my life. I don't know what I want to do."

Tsunami looked at him ,having to look up to meet his eyes for he had grown to tower over his mother. "Then go. Go and find yourself. Travel around and find your place."

"But.. I can't just leave you here. You'll be all alone. It's always just been the three of us, but with grandpa gone? No. I can't do that to you."

She raised her hand and gripped his chin in a gentle, but forceful way. She was smiling fondly. "Inari. This is your grandfather's gift to us. He gave us the money to be able to make choices. Take that gift and make a choice that will make you happy. I'll be fine here, surrounded by my friends. You know the people of this village. They would take care of anything I might need. All I want is to know you're happy."

It was the love in her eyes that had finally convinced him. That, and it didn't seem like she was going to take no for an answer. She had woken him this morning with a good breakfast and a fully provisioned pack and had shoved him out the door and told him not to come home until he had figured himself out. So here he was, about to cross the bridge for the mainland and who knows what. And no, he didn't blame the bridge. Couldn't blame anything his grandpa built. No, it was the name **on** the bridge that was the problem. He blamed his discontent on one loud, blond, orange-clad ninja.

Naruto had managed to keep in touch with Inari and his mother over the years. For a year after the events in which they had met him, a letter would come by post every so often. He always asked how they were doing, how the old man was, and if everything was all right in Wave.

Then came the day when the letters stopped coming by post, but were delivered by a small orange toad that had given his mother a heart attack the first time it appeared on their dinning room table and talked to her. At that time, Naruto had told them, he was traveling all over the place and training with the guy who wrote the books his grandfather had liked so much. Come to find out he wasn't just an author of what his mother referred to as smut, he was a very powerful ninja as well.

That went on for a few years. Naruto would apologize sometimes about the space between his letters, but would merely say that life was a little interesting at the moment. He never went into details, but knowing him, the mind boggled. News was slowly reaching Wave about some of the troubles Konoha was having with some criminal organization, so they knew he was leaving a lot of details out of his messages.

Then had come a horrible day when a merchant had come with the news that Konohagakuri had been completely destroyed. Inari and Tazuna had dropped everything and rushed to Konoha with a few crews and their equipment. They were met with the horrifying sight of a large crater where the bustling village had once stood. They and their help had been welcomed with open arms, and they had stayed and helped with the reconstruction for a few weeks. They had even been reunited with a much taller, but still loud, orange clad ninja. Inari hadn't been able to interact with his idol for long before he had been whisked away on another mission. He and Tazuna had returned home without seeing their friend again.

There had been no word after that, when it had looked like the continent would be engulfed in another great war. Their small country stayed out of the conflict, and little news came their way. He hadn't heard anything from Naruto for several years now. But the seed of adventure had been planted permanently in his soul. And the fight on the bridge had changed him more thoroughly than even his mother realized.

How he was dressed at the moment showed that. Let's just say, he didn't dress like a fisherman. His loose, homespun clothes were in shades of beige and green that helped him blend into the woods and fields. He had trained himself to move silently and gracefully, whether on a boat or in the woods. And, now that he was traveling into unknown territory, he was carrying weapons openly.

One of the last things his grandfather had made him was the powerful crossbow slung over his back, next to a full quiver of darts. The bow was both a work of art and a piece lethal functionality. He'd had to build up the muscles in his arms and shoulders over the course of a year just to draw it. It was his most prized possession, and he had gotten good with it, to the point where everything he aimed at, he hit. His proficiency with it was a little scary sometimes, actually. As much as he loved the bow, it wasn't something he used lightly. Luckily just carrying it made any bandits think twice about bothering him.

He hoped.

...

He had been traveling for a couple of weeks now, not going anywhere in particular, just slowly wandering. He traveled south down the coast, then started to make his way inland, staying in villages a few days before moving on. Though it wasn't a conscious thing, his feet were steadily making their way toward Konoha. When he thought about it, he supposed when one didn't have a destination it made sense to head somewhere he had been before.

Inari snorted in amusement, disturbing the silence of the massive trees the road he was traveling on wove through. He wanted to go there, but he had no idea what he was going to do when he got there. Or afterward. Sooner or later he was going to run out of money, and when that happened it meant deciding on a profession he could live with, or going home with his tail between his legs.

He had decided early on that plan B wasn't an option.

The loud bickering of two voices just ahead made Inari slow down and listen. From the sounds of it, he wasn't the only one with problems. The two men were camped off the road in a thick stand of trees, and seemed unaware that they had an audience. If they had, they probably would have been a bit more circumspect with what they were saying.

"This brat can't be worth the price we paid for him. I mean, those two ninja were pretty anxious to get rid of him. Even if he is a potential shinobi, we probably won't even break even."

"Yeah. And did you notice how twitchy they were? That's just not normal for Kiri nin. Like the devil himself was chasing them. I've got a bad feeling about this. We should sell this kid the first opportunity we get."

By this point, Inari was both curious and outraged. Curious about why Kiri nin would be dealing in slaves, and outraged because he hated the slave trade with a passion. Wave was hit occasionally by slavers, and Inari had known families that had been affected. One of his shipmates hadn't seen his brother in five years, and had no idea where he was. These two, whoever they were, were talking about a kid like he was a sack of rice.

That was it. He couldn't just let this go.

He stealthily pushed his way into the thicket the two would be slavers had camped in. All his practice was being put to use as he concentrated on not making a sound. Finally he peered through the last layer of leaves and got his first look at his prey. The two men were sitting around a small fire, passing a sake gourd back and fourth, staring at the flame morosely. Nearby, a thick brown sack sat propped up against a tree, slight whimpers and sniffles emanating from it. Inari got pissed all over again. By the size, the kid couldn't be older than four or so.

Inari edged around the camp until he was a few feet away from the child. He cocked the crossbow, wincing a bit at the soft metallic click of the latch, and set a dart in it. He took his time and aimed carefully, waiting until the two men were fully engaged in their meal of noodles. Just when both were mid-slurp, he loosed. The bolt went through the knot holding the sack closed and pined it firmly to the tree.

"_Ha, try to take the kid anywhere now." _

Ten seconds to put his foot in the stirrup, cock the bow, load the bolt, fire. Four more times he did this while the men were still choking on their last mouthful of soup. His second bolt knocked the pot of soup into the fire. The third took out the seam of a heavily laden traveling pack hanging from a branch, sending its contents everywhere. The fourth and fifth shots divested the two would be slavers of their hats. That sent the two diving for what cover they could find with very undignified screeches. Inari couldn't help but snigger.

"It must be whoever was after those ninja! Let's get out of here. Forget the kid."

"But he's missed us. He can't be that good."

"He's hit everything he's aimed at, you idiot! He could kill us anytime he wanted. Come on!"

The two beat a hasty retreat toward the road, actually passing within a few feet of Inari's hiding place. He waited until the footsteps faded, then stood up with a pleased smirk. "That was too easy. Heh, wimps." As he walked over to the bag, it began to squirm in a panicked fashion. "Whoh, kid. I'm not going to hurt you. Let's get you out of there." Rather than bothering with the knot, which was still very firmly attached to the tree trunk, he took out his knife and slit open the sack. The last thing he saw was something small and reddish approaching his face at a high rate of speed, a loud crack, then darkness.

...

The next time Inari opened his eyes, it was to that same blurry reddish orb, only this time it was hovering over his face instead of smashing into it. His vision started to clear, but nothing was making the deep pounding in his skull go away. As his eyes focused, he found himself looking up into a pair of impossibly blue, worried eyes. Small hands were gripping the front of his tunic and were shaking him back and forth slightly, which also wasn't doing much for his head. It took him a moment to place just who the kid was, until he realized fuzzily that it must be the one that he'd just rescued.

"Mister? Mister, I'm really sorry. Mama told me that I have a hard head just like daddy and that I shouldn't hit people with it but I thought you were the voices outside the sack and I didn't want to go back in there but then I thought that your voice wasn't one of those but you were already lying on the ground and I'm really sorry mister."

Inari was pretty sure the boy would have kept going, but around that point he seemed to remember that breathing was kind of an important thing. After a couple of deep breaths, he looked like he was going to keep apologizing, but Inari held up his hand for silence. _"I don't think there is enough aspirin in the world for this,"_ he thought to himself. Out loud, he tried to reassure the kid, whose bottom lip was trembling slightly. "It's okay." He gingerly sat up. "See, I'm fine kid. I know you were scared. That was pretty fast thinking there."

He took the chance to study his foundling. The boy was three or four, with a thick shock of strawberry blond hair and wide blue eyes. He was wearing a pair of black shorts and a red hooded jacket. On his feet were a pair of ninja sandals in a size he didn't think they made. All in all, he was damned familiar in a way. He just couldn't put his finger on why. "What's your name, kid?"

A tentative smile stretched across the child's face. "Akairo."

"Akairo, huh? Cool name. Mine's Inari."

"Inari-oniisan? Can we go home now?" Those huge blue eyes doing a puppy dog thing that Inari was pretty sure shouldn't work on a teenage boy, but was anyways.

"Sure, I suppose." Niisan? He'd known this kid all of two minutes. "So where is home?"

Akairo perked up. "I live in Konoha," he said proudly. "I live with my mama and daddy and all my aunts and uncles and my new cousin Hibiki. He's only three months old, so me and Akamaru can't play with him yet, but when he gets big enough I'm supposed to teach him things and I really miss them and I want to go home."

Inari listened wearily as the boy kept going. At this rate he was going get his ear talked off before they got to Konoha. Heh, pretty funny that he now had a destination, and it was the place he wanted to go in the first place. "All right, all right. Take a breath kid. I'm going to take you home, don't worry. And for the future, quiet is a good thing."

"Mama tells me that all the time."

"Glad to hear it."

Inari stood up slowly, working some kinks out of his neck, head still pounding. Geez, the kid had a hard head. He was trying not to think about the fact that after two weeks on the road with no incidents, he gets a concussion from a four year old. He started picking through the stuff abandoned by the slavers. _"Here's some soup packets, better than the ones I've got. Hey, here's a pretty good knife. Score. A stamp book for a bordello. Ok, leaving that here."_

As he put things in his pack, Akairo's eyes got wider and wider. Finally Inari looked over at where he was sitting near the small fire, watching him. "What?"

"You're stealing!"

"I am not! It's called lost and found. Those men left this stuff behind, so it's lost. We found it, so we get to keep it. See? If they didn't want us to have it, they would've taken it with them. Besides, they were going to sell you. Turnaround is fair play."

Akairo cocked his head. "You sound like my daddy."

"Really? Your dad sounds like a cool guy then. Can't wait to meet him." Inari finished storing his new supplies in his pack, then kicked out the fire, making sure it was completely out with the last of the soup in the dented pot. "Come on kid. It'll take us a couple of days to get to Konoha."

It soon became apparent that Akairo had been in that bag for a while, because only a few minutes down the road the kid's legs gave out. Akairo pouted and crossed his arms as he sat in the middle of the road. "My legs are all tingly. I'm not a baby. Really. I can walk."

Inari grinned and hoisted him up to sit on his shoulders, getting him situated so he could still get to his crossbow if he needed it. "That's all right. Sorry I didn't think of it sooner." In a few minutes the child was fast asleep, his head resting on Inari's.

Inari chuckled. Cute kid. Still reminded him of someone, though, and it was driving him crazy. He pulled out a map from his belt pouch and studied it. If he kept on this road he would make it to Konoha in about three days. If he went as the crow flies, he could cut it down to about a day and a half. He was darn lucky that he even had a map with the hidden village on it, a legacy of his grandfather's good relationship with it. Though he had reservations on cutting through deep forest where kami knows what lived, he decided that it was worth the risk of running into something he couldn't handle. The kid was heavy. And, as Inari was discovering, he snored.

It was funny how things worked out, but later that day Inari couldn't imagine **not** having the kid around. The trip seemed to go faster with Akairo traveling with him. He was funny, surprisingly intelligent for a rugrat, and hyper in an entertaining, rather than annoying way. After his nap, and once his legs weren't "tingly" anymore, he was bouncing through the trees like some kind of demented monkey. He moved through the branches like he had been born at it, and, considering he was from Konoha, Inari supposed that he had. Relegated to the ground, Inari had freaked out at first until reassured that the kid wasn't going to fall.

When they camped that night, Akairo gobbled up noodle soup packets until his little stomach bulged. Inari felt a slow, consuming anger at the thought that the little guy had missed a few meals over the past few days. He was wishing he hadn't let those two would be slavers off so easy.

It was surprising to him that he was already so protective of the kid. Akairo just seemed to cultivate that need in people.

After they had eaten, Inari banked the fire and spread his bedroll next to it. He lay there for a while before sleep claimed him, Akairo curled up next to him like a puppy. He was excited for the chance to see Konoha again, to see how it had recovered from being leveled. He couldn't wait to see Naruto, and hoped he was even there. He really didn't know anybody else there besides Kakashi-sensei, who had been kind to him at the time of the Gato incident. Naruto's two teammates hadn't really given him the time of day the whole time they had been living in his house. He was trying to imagine what Naruto would be like now, when he fell asleep.

...

The next morning, Akairo was full of beans after a big dinner and a good nights sleep. As Inari was breaking down the camp, he was bouncing all over the place chanting " I'm going home" over and over again until the teen couldn't take anymore. When he bounced nearby, Inari grabbed him and tickled him until he could barely breath, let alone talk. Akairo, still giggling helplessly, wiggled free and started pelting Inari with pinecones. Inari laughed. "Why you little- Wait till I get my hands on you!"

Akairo shrieked in mock alarm and dashed away, Inari in hot pursuit. He didn't care that they were wasting daylight, this was about fun. He'd never really played as a child, always spending time with his grandfather. It was refreshing to let loose and just screw around for the sake of screwing around.

He was putting on another burst of speed to catch the four year old when his reflexes started screaming at him. A dark shape dropped from a tree to his right, swinging a blade that would have decapitated him had he not dropped to the ground instinctively. He rolled until he was on his feet facing this new threat.

It was a tallish man with blue-black hair and cold obsidian eyes that sparked a memory with him. He carried a long sword with a black blade and a familiar fan symbol was stitched onto both sides of his open necked, high collared blue shirt. A name was on the tip of Inari's tongue when a younger voice beat him to it.

"Sasuke-ojisan!"

...

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello. What can I say, this took awhile. Summer is always busy for me. It seems like I haven't been home in months. I literally just come home to sleep. So, sorry this took so long and I hope you enjoy. Cheers!**

**Naruto and all it's characters do not belong to me. Akairo is mine however, so at least I have the cute one :D**

…**...**

It suddenly occurred to Inari that he no longer had to worry about his future, mainly due to the fact that he was probably about to die.

He backpedaled frantically through some bushes, not caring in the least how undignified it might be, as he tried to put some distance between himself and Uchiha Sasuke. He knew it was him. He remembered him clearly, having no trouble seeing the boy he had once known in the man before him. The same ebon hair and eyes, the same cold expression. Unfortunately, it seemed that the trip down memory lane was not mutual. There was no recognition showing as the man advanced on him steadily, like a predator patiently stalking its prey. His eyes swirled from black to an ominous red, and Inari found himself unable to look away, no matter how hard he tried. A moment later he fetched up against a tree trunk and had nowhere to go.

Frozen in his tracks, even his lungs stilled, Inari watched helplessly as Sasuke raised his sword.

Suddenly, salvation arrived in the unlikely form of a four year old boy with a determined look on his small face. As humiliating as it was being rescued by the kid he himself had just rescued the day before, Inari had never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He just hoped that Akairo really did know the Uchiha. Especially when he planted himself squarely in front of the tip of that black blade.

"Sasuke-ojisan, you leave him alone!"

Inari let out his held breath with a whoosh as that red gaze was directed to Akairo. The boy met those eyes fearlessly. Sasuke lowered his sword and raised an exasperated eyebrow at the kid. "You're defending the person who kidnapped you? That's strange even for you, chibi."

Kidnapped him? Whoo boy, wait a minute. "Wait, I can explain. There's been some kind of missun-" Inari found his frantic babbling cut off as those creepy eyes focused on him again. Three comma shaped tomes idly swirled, and once again Inari couldn't move.

This was so messed up.

"I find you chasing my godson after he's been missing for three days, and I am supposed to believe it's all some sort of mistake? How stupid do you think I am?"

A large snake appeared from nowhere and wrapped itself around Akairo's waist, gently lifting the boy up and moving him out of the way despite the boy's loud protests.

"I don't know what you have been filling the kid's head with, but I assure you, I am not so gullible."

Once again that black sword raised, and Inari found he didn't have enough control of his body to even close his eyes.

"Sasuke, hold up!"

This time Inari nearly collapsed as once again the Uchiha's attention was diverted. More? That's it, I'm done. I don't want to play anymore.

The deep voice came from overhead as another man dropped from the trees. Inari took in his appearance in a panicked rush. Tall, taller than the Uchiha. Blond hair. Intense blue eyes set above whisker striped cheeks.

Wait, blond? Whiskers?

Inari coughed, then croaked, "Naruto?"

The man studied him, puzzled for a moment, then his jaw dropped open. "Inari?"

"Daddy!" Akairo shrieked, launching himself at the tall blond.

Daddy? It was at that time that Inari's consciousness decided to give up on him for awhile, and everything went black.

…..

"Inari? Inari, come on buddy, wake up. Up and at'em, let's go."

Inari was waking up with someone talking to him and his head pounding once again. Man, if this was going to keep happening, he was going home to be a fisherman after all. He became vaguely aware that someone was slapping his cheeks lightly. He opened his eyes with a groan to find a familiar grin beaming at him. Inari groaned and massaged his aching head. "Am I dead?"

"Nope," Naruto replied cheerfully.

"Damn."

"Headache?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"Yeah, the Sharingan will do that to you. That's the freaky red eye thing, by the way. Sorry about that. I got the story from Sasuke and Akairo, and I can see how Sasuke jumped to conclusions. But I convinced him that I'm reasonably certain that you didn't take my kid."

"Your kid? Wait, I did hear him call you daddy before I passed out?"

"Yup, he's mine. Surprised?"

"Not really. Now that I think about it, he acts a lot like you did."

Naruto laughed. "Don't let his mother hear you say that."

Inari sat up gingerly and propped his back up against a tree. His head pounded as he studied his long time hero. Time had changed the blond a great deal. Maturity and what looked like a whole lot of growing had given him a tall, muscular frame that, though it was hard to tell when he was sitting down, probably had him over six feet. His face was longer and more defined, and his bangs hung over his forehead protector to dangle in front of his eyes. To be honest, he looked intimidating, more serious. But everything else was the same as he remembered, the blue eyes that radiated personality, the whisker marked cheeks.

They were interrupted by Akairo landing on Naruto's back, arms locked around his father's neck. Naruto laughed and pulled him over his head to land in his lap in a pile of giggles. "So, Inari " Naruto said. "how did you two meet?"

Inari gave his friend an abridged version of his brief skirmish with the slavers, and what he overheard beforehand.

"Kiri, huh. Why am I not surprised. They're a little pissed at me at the moment. I just never thought they would be able to get to my family. I was on a mission and Sakura was in the middle of surgery. Akairo was with friends, but apparently decided he was going to go off on his own." He shot the boy in his lap a hard look. "Were going to be talking about that later gaki, so don't think you can get out of it."

Akairo looked properly embarrassed and sniffed a little. "Sorry Daddy, " he said in a small voice.

"I know. But I'm not the only one you need to apologize to. You were supposed to stay with Ino and Choji, and they were scared when they couldn't find you. Tore the whole village apart looking for you."

Akairo gazed up at his father with watery blue eyes. "I'll apologize to them. Really. And I'll never get lost again."

Inari could tell that Naruto was making a valiant effort to not smile. "Only my son would call what happened to you 'getting lost'. And it would seem that I need to have a little chat with the Mizukage again, or I'm going to end up having to lock you up until you become a Gennin." He ruffled the boy's hair fondly, until Akairo was giggling again and swatting at his father's hand in mock annoyance.

While Inari was finding this whole exchange entertaining, one thing managed to stick out in his head. "Wait? Sakura? Isn't Sakura your teammate. The girl with the pink hair?"

Naruto grinned. "Yup. It took a few years, but I finally won her over."

Sasuke snorted from where he was leaning on a tree nearby. "A few years?"

"Okay, more than a few years. But in my defense, I was gone a lot."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder?" Inari teased.

"Something like that." Naruto scratched the back of his head. Inari was amused to see that familiar gesture after all these years, especially on this frankly dangerous looking man. "Well, " Naruto said briskly, slapping his thighs before getting to his feet, Akairo clambering like a monkey to his shoulders. "Speaking of Sakura, I better let her know I found the kid before she turns the five countries upside-down looking for him."

Inari watched with interest as Naruto summoned a small toad and asked it to take a message to Sakura, wherever she might be. It wasn't the same toad that used to deliver messages to his house all those years ago. Inari wondered why that was. "That's done," Naruto said as the toad poofed away. "Let's head over to your camp and get your things, then we can head home. Right, monkey?" This last was directed to Akairo where he sat perched on his father's shoulders.

"Yeah! I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry. You're going to get as big as Choji soon, then I won't be able to carry you any more." He bounced up and down as he walked back toward where Inari had set up camp what seemed like a million years ago.

Akairo crossed his arms. "Will not."

"Will so."

"Not."

"So."

"Not."

Inari caught sight of Sasuke rolling his eyes tolerantly as the two went back and forth. Inari took a chance and fell into step next to him. He didn't seem like he still wanted to kill him. "Are they always like that?"

"Pretty much. Sakura tells people that the only reason she had a kid was to give Naruto someone to play with."

Inari chuckled. "I can see how that would work."

Sasuke glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry about earlier. It's been a stressful few days."

Inari almost stopped walking in shock. From what he remembered of Sasuke back in the day, he had been too arrogant to give Inari the time of day, much less apologize for something. It would seem that the Uchiha had changed even more than Naruto. "It's cool, I understand. He's a great kid. I'd hate to loose him too."

Sasuke gave a sad sort of smile as he looked at the two ahead of them, still arguing. "He's very precious to us. His birth was very difficult on Sakura. We almost lost them both. As a result, she cannot have any more children. I only tell you this so that you'll understand why everyone was so frantic to find him."

"Naruto's pretty relaxed now."

Sasuke snorted. "He's relaxed now, but he wasn't before. In the hours after Akairo was taken, he was angrier than I've ever seen him. I wouldn't be the Mizukage now for all the money in the world. If he did order the kidnapping, that is."

Inari looked at the tall blond man walking ahead of him. He was strong enough to challenge the Mizukage? He wondered just how powerful his friend had gotten. How dangerous was he? Raised voices drifted back as Naruto neared the camp.

"Not."

"Will so infinity!"

"Hey, no fair!"

…...

It didn't take long to gather up Inari's travel pack and weapons and stomp out the remains of the fire. Naruto eyes lit up when he saw the crossbow, and asked if he could see it before Inari slung it over his back. He examined it closely, feeling the weight of it.

"This is a beautiful bow. The craftsmanship is amazing. Did the old man make it?"

Inari was always happy to talk about his most prized possession. "Yup, sure did. I had to build up the muscles in my arms and chest just to cock it. You should see the range."

Naruto grinned, sighting down the stock. "We might have to hire him to make more of these instead of bridges. I know some people who would love to get their hands on something this nice. You're going to have to beat Tenten off with a stick when she sees this baby. Think he'd be interested?"

Inari's heart clenched as Naruto's innocent question brought up pain that was half healed, at best. Of course Naruto didn't know. They had been out of touch for years.

Naruto looked up when Inari didn't answer, and saw his wooden expression. "Inari?"

"Grandfather died about six months ago from heart failure."

Naruto's face fell. "Oh, damn. I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"It's alright. It was quick. He died in his sleep. This bow was the last thing he made."

"I'm going to miss the old coot. I wish I'd had a chance to talk to him again."

Inari smiled. "He still had a lot of respect for you. Used to look forward to your letters, just to see how you were and what you were up to. I mean, you've seen the bridge, right?"

Naruto laughed, a bright, happy sound that helped to break the gloomy mood. "No, I haven't seen it, but plenty of people have told me about it. Kept meaning to get down there to see it, but something always came up." He sobered. "I'm going to have to, now. Pay my respects to the old man." He shook himself, causing Akairo to squeal. " How is your mother doing?"

Inari smiled and shook his head ruefully. "Oh, she's fine. She's the reason I'm out here. I got kicked out."

Naruto frowned, concerned. "Why would she do that? Did you have a falling out?"

Inari was quick to reassure him. "No no, nothing like that. I'm kind of on a job hunting trip." He told Naruto about his inability to settle down and be happy in a profession, especially since Tazuna's death. "I couldn't stand to do carpentry or architecture at that point, and fishing was going to get old, fast."

Naruto laughed. "After seeing how determined you were to fight back when you were seven, I actually can't picture you doing either of those. So, you're going to come home with us and we're going to find you something to do."

"What? Go to Konoha?" Inari stammered. "But, I'm not a ninja. What would I do there?"

Naruto clasped his shoulder in a firm grip. "Inari, you saved my son. And you're a friend. I would be taking you home with me even if you didn't need help. Besides, not everyone there is a shinobi. Not even everyone who fights is a shinobi. If you're as good with that bow as you say you are, I think we can find a place for you."

"Yeah, Inari-oniisan! Come home with us! You can be my big brother, and you can meet all my friends and all my aunts and uncles and.."

"I think he gets the point son. Give the man a chance to think."

It was the both the hopeful look in those young blue eyes and the warm feeling he got when Naruto called him a man that decided him. He nodded firmly, and got a cheer from Akairo and a pleased nod from Naruto. Without another word, he gathered up his things and followed the two shinobi toward his future.

…...

The end, for now


End file.
